Between Past and Future: The Rebirth of the Classical Guitar through Manuel de Falla’s Homenaje

The classical guitar has been around for hundreds of years and underwent immense evolution in repertoire, construction, and technique throughout its journey. Today, the classical guitar has established itself as a viable concert instrument with an extensive repertoire of different genres. Throughout the years, the classical guitar had ups and downs and was popular among different social classes in society. Living between the world of folk and classical music resulted in mixed views of the instrument. The instrument faced ups and downs in terms of popularity throughout its journey. If we look at the 19th century, this period has been beneficial for the development of music for the birth of solo recital, chromaticism, and instrument evolution. Evolution resulted in new instruments, and the guitar replaced the death of some, such as the lute.

On the other hand, solo recitals became increasingly popular, which attracted more people for the profit of providing music to a larger population in larger concert halls. However, that innovation was to the classical guitar's detriment because of its poor resonance and the technical difficulty of more chromatic composition. We can see from the 19th century to the beginning of the 20th century that the repertoire created on the instrument was something of the past. In this essay, we will elaborate on how music has evolved somewhere that the guitar could not reach for different reasons. The focus will be on how the classical guitar managed to survive compared to another instrument that went out of fashion and what made it possible for the instrument to continue to grow in technique and repertoire. This essay will be divided in two sections. First, it will look at the state of the classical guitar in the 19th century. Secondly, it will dive into the significant changes in the 20th century that helped the classical guitar survive in the realm of classical music rather than a folk instrument. Especially, we will look into the collaboration of Manuel de Falla and the guitarist Miguel Llobet that played an important part in the development of the classical guitar in the 20th century. The piece composed by De Falla, Homenaje pour Le Tombeau de Claude Debussy , is seen as the first great classical guitar piece in the 20thcentury. We will look at what make it stand out compared to pieces composed by classical guitarist.

The state of the classical guitar in the 19th century

We will have a quick overview of the classical guitar in the 19th century to see where the guitar lies as an instrument in Western classical music. Critics, compositional approach, and guitar status will be discussed to showcase where the instrument lies in the plethora of the classical music scene. This general overview will showcase the situation of the instrument leading to the 20th century. At the beginning of the 19th century, romantic guitar became increasingly popular in the Western world. Some even consider the 19th century as the golden age of guitar for the repertoire and popularity. The innovation brought by the romantic guitar helped its continuity. Some notable characteristics are adopting a bass string, a more extensive body for more resonance, and removing the double strings of its predecessor, the baroque guitar. Those innovations helped the instrument become louder and expand on its polyphonic capabilities.

On the other hand, we can witness the adoption of standard notation compared to tablature. This method of notating the music was beneficial for showcasing rhythm and dynamic marking for the guitarist and developed extensively during the 19th century into a more refined and organized method of notation for the instrument. The guitar's use took place in various scenarios, such as chamber music, vocal music, and solo repertoire, that showcased the instrument's position. Composers such as Fernando Sor, Dionisio Aguado, Johann Kaspar Mertz, Napoleon Coste, Giulio Regondi and Francisco Tarrega helped the development of the repertoire and technique in the 19th century.

Critics of the instrument

The journal article We Hate the Guitar': Prejudice and Polemic in the music press in Early 19th-century Europe, written by Erik Stensdalvolt and published by Early Music, Volume 41, Issue 4, November 2013,discussed the situation of the guitar and it is critics that gives an insight on how critics and musician perceived the instrument in the 19th century. This article showcases the harsh criticism of the instrument published by musical journals. Some liked the instrument, and others despised it. Why did the guitar face so much backlash? Factors including social views, limitation of the instrument and the new vision of musical aesthetics impacted the instrument's status. For example, even the leading guitarist at the time, Fernando Sor, was criticized for using the guitar.

 (‘M. Sor does beautiful things on the guitar, but I confess that I have always regretted that this artist, whose musical intelligence is far from ordinary, does not devote himself to an instrument that would offer greater resources to his ability. On hearing M. Sor, one recognizes a superior artist; but, I repeat, why does he play the guitar?’)[1]

Gentrification of instrument

 One factor affecting the guitar's perception is the gentrification of instruments. Carl Ludwig Junker (1748–97) was a philogist and composer who explained which instruments were appropriate for the bourgeois woman in an essay from 1783, Vom Kostüm des Frauenzimmer Spielens. According to the author, some instruments were more geared toward women's usage, such as the lute and zither, both stringed instruments that eventually were replaced by the guitar due to the decline of the lute's popularity. All other instruments, seen as male instruments, were banned from being performed by women—the gentrification of instruments spread throughout Europe, influencing the guitar's perception and status in public performances. The feminine qualities were being merged onto the guitar as gentle, simplistic, and sentimental, which resulted in a limitation for growth by enforcing those criteria that did not align with the musical idealism of the time.

Musical Idealism

In the 19th century, we can observe the change in musical aesthetics. German thinkers and critics started seeing instrumental music as entertainment and a source of truth. Music journals were essential in pushing the narrative of musical idealism that could praise and destroy works by others. It significantly affected the nature of concerts, especially for guitarists who slowly faded away from those events. For example, in Germany, evening concerts were seen as entertainment where we could see diverse music, such as orchestra, guitar, and even jugglers and reciters. Afterwards, we could see programs made of only orchestral and chamber music that would encompass the idea of music. Slowly, we would see the guitar fade in the concert scene.

Guitar limitation

The instrument's limits often came during criticism in ways that degraded the guitar. Those limitations are even more apparent in the larger concert halls. The guitar is intricate and requires much focus on many things simultaneously. The main argument was the lack of sonority. The unpleasant aspect of the guitar is even more apparent when misplayed. Critics and some guitar composers believed that the instrument should be limited to simple. It did not deserve sophisticated music based on its reputation and the instrument's limits compared to piano or ensemble music. If we observe the critics of the performance of Mauro Giuliani in 1808 in Vienna, where he premiered in his guitar concerto op.30. The guitarist did get praised for his musical ingenuity but still faced backlash because of the nature of the instrument.

(‘Has not every instrument its own limits decreed by nature? And if these are violated, must not the result be something artificial, or even deformed? We must put the guitar back in its place—let it stick to accompaniment—and we will always be happy to hear it.’)[2]

In 1806, Friedrich Guthman wrote about the guitar in the Allgemeine Musikalische Zeitung (AMZ), an essential musical journal. The author wants to highlight the instrument's positive aspects while staying objective.

(‘Every instrument has its limits, and so does the guitar ... An instrument's artful playing does not consist of doing everything possible on other instruments but in making everything as beautiful and enjoyable as possible within its limitations. Mankind so easily oversteps the boundaries in everything)! [3]

The guitarist needed to consider those limitations in their compositional process and performance. Harvey Turnbull's book The Guitar from the Renaissance to the Present Day discusses Hector Berlioz's perception of the instrument in his Treatise on Modern Instrumentation and Orchestration, which sheds light on the challenges brought by the nature of the instrument.

(It is almost impossible to write well for the guitar without being a player on the instrument. The majority of composers who employ it are, however, far from knowing it’s power; and therefore, they frequently give it things to play of excessive difficulty, little sonority, and small effect.)[4]

Composing for the guitar requires different attention than other instruments, so we see few non-guitarist composers write for the instrument. If they do, they are unsophisticated accompaniment parts. Beriloz suggests the works of guitarists such as Zanni de Ferranti, Huerta and Fernando Sor as references for what the guitar can achieve.[5] One important thing to know is the training as a musician that Fernando Sor had that he could implement on his instrument, which factors in his achievements as a composer and guitarist compared to another self-taught guitarist without formal training. Berlioz also further discussed the decline that faced the instrument.

(Since the introduction of the pianoforte into all houses where the least taste for music exists, the guitar has been a little used, save in Spain and Italy. Some performers have studied it, and still study it, as a solo instrument, in such a way as to derive from his effects no less original than delightful. Composers employ it but little, either in the church, theatre, or concert room. Its feeble sonority, which does not allow its union with other instruments, or with many voices possessed even of ordinary brilliancy, is doubtless the cause of this. Nevertheless, its melancholy and dreamy character might more frequently be made available; it has a real charm of its own, and there would be no impossibility in so writing for it as to make this manifest.)[6]

Various factors affected the decline of the guitar, such as the social perception of the instrument, the evolution of concert halls, the lack of formal contrapuntal training for the guitarist and the instrument limitation. However, we can find important pieces written for the guitar that helped it grow as a polyphonic instrument capable of executing sophisticated works by knowledgeable guitarists such as Fernando Sor and Mauro Giuliani. They stand out because they employ the instrument at its full potential. Their sophisticated approach to music made it possible to showcase what the guitar can accomplish. While the guitar was famous among amateurs, serious musicians such as Giuliani and Sor had a more extensive image of the instrument. While other instruments thrived in big concert halls, the guitar thrived in smaller environments, and more intimate spaces that did not stop it is continuity. Music's constant evolution is affected by various factors and is in constant motion, and the 19th century paved the way for the most important century for classical guitar.

20th century

The transition between the 19th century and the 20th century for the classical guitar has been crucial for its development. Throughout classical guitar life, we have noticed that the instrument has faced ups and downs in popularity. For various reasons, the 20th century is considered the instrument's most crucial century. This section will unfold the new relation between the composer and performer and how it contributed with the continuation and growth of the classical guitar. With technological innovation in different facets of society, music benefited greatly. Some characteristics of music written in the 20th century is the usage of technology, experimentation with genres, style, colour, timbre, sounds, tonality and atonality with Stravinisky and Schoenberg leading with two different views of music. On the other hand, those criteria fit nicely on the guitar because of the instrument's history and the freedom that brings all those characteristics to the instrument. For example, quartal harmony employed by the impressionistic composers is comfortably executable on the classical guitar. With the arrival of the 20th century, the instrument did not need to be restricted by the chromaticism found in the romantic era, which was physically demanding on the instrument and hard to execute. On the other hand,  we can see Manuel de Falla's admiration and optimism for the future of the guitar:

“Falla believes intensely in the Future of the guitar… But at this point, some readers may interrupt with a particular show of contempt; 'Future? I should have considered it an instrument of the past, one with a past, at all events!' It is true that with us, the idea of 'playing on the Spanish guitar 'has somehow acquired a curiously disreputable significance, while the instrument itself is – or was until the arrival of Andres Segovia – regarded as a piece of romantic stage furniture. 'No,' says Falla. 'Not at all! Romantic times were precisely when the guitar was at its worst; then, of course, it spread all over Europe. It was made to play the sort of music that other instruments played, but it was not really suitable for nineteenth centruty music, and so it dropped out. It is coming back again because it is peculiarly adapted for modern music.”[7]

We will dive into Homenaje by Falla and how it pioneered the next generation of classical guitar in terms of musical language, notation, instrument properties, and collaboration between performer and composer. 

New kind of relationship between musician and composers

A critical factor in developing the classical guitar in the 20th century is the collaboration of the non-guitarist composer and the guitarist. It provided a new musical language that a guitarist could not do alone. It could realign the classical guitar with the current musical trend observed in classical music by leading composers in the 20th century. This new relationship between composer and instrumentalist created a new trajectory for the instrument that guitarists needed help to achieve. However, why does the guitarist need to work with the composer compared to another instrument? In the documentary of Andres Segovia in Los Olivos, the classical guitarist answers the question of why there was a lack of repertoire when Segovia started his career;"The guitar is a very complicated instrument. By being the only string instrument really polyhonic, it is impossible if you don’t play it and if you don’t play it well."[8] For example, playing one note in many different places is possible, resulting in a different colour. Someone who has not thoroughly studied the instrument might not consider the many colour and timbre possibilities. The unique techniques associated with the instrument, such as rasguado and tremolo, must be diligently organized to ensure it is executable. That’s why the collaboration of the performer and crucial was for the development of the classical guitar in the 20th century. For example, a guitarist has not edited Tedesco Sonatina op.205 for flute and guitar, manifesting in writing. The third movement showcases a tremolo passage that needs to be edited by the performer because of its unfeasible and non-guitaristic approach. This example showcases that the guitarist can provide the necessary knowledge for the composer to express and experiment to fit his vision.

Figure 1 Tedesco Sonatina op.205 III movement

One of the first pieces attributed to the classical guitar by a non-guitarist composer is Manuel de Falla Homenaje Tombeau de Debussy. This piece is seen as one of the most critical pieces of the 20th century for the classical guitar and one of the first by a non-guitarist composer. This piece was written for the Revue Musical in homage to Claude Debussy's death. Henry Pruniere, musicologist and editor of the journal, asked several leading composers to write a piece to commemorate the composer's death. Falla was very fond of Debussy for the innovative qualities found in his music. During this time, Miguel Llobet wanted to commission a piece by Falla, which took place for this critical project. This language was new for the instrument compared to what previous guitar composers accomplished.

Characteristics of Falla's in Homenaje Writing

In this piece, Falla focuses less on quoting Debussy but employs the late composer's language. The only literal quotation found in this piece happens at the end of Soirer dans grenade. We can see the Habanera rhythm employed throughout the piece in various fashions. Falla's interest in Spanish folklore inspired him to write in a style of music called cante jondo which translates to deep song, and some characteristics of it are microtonal modulation in the voice; melody rarely passing the sixth, repeated usage of one note; ornaments, especially in melodic high points.[9]  We can also see the application of the habanera rhythm, a Cuban dance that made its way into Europe and popularized during the 20th century that encompasses the whole piece.  

Figure 2 Bogdanovic, Dusan. “Homenaje”: An Analysis of Manuel de Falla’s “Le Tombeau de Claude Debussy.” Classical Guitar. Vol. 29. Richmond: String Letter Publishing, 2011, p.6

At the beginning of the 20th century, we can see the interest in folklore music by leading composers in the classical music world, including works by Bela Bartok and Igor Stravinsky, to name a few. Knowing that historically, the guitar was a folkloric instrument, this interest helped the guitar's integration into the musical trend of the time. We can see the revival of ancient modes and musical styles reimagined to fit the modern era, which this piece employs for the classical guitar, which has yet to be seen by leading guitarists of the past.

Articulation and Dynamics

We can notice on the score that the specific articulation indicated that it was not employed previously in guitar composition. The X on top of the notes has a specific goal yet to be employed. Innovation in musical expression on the guitar has been tremendous ever since with the exploration of different effects such as percussion, scratching, playing the strings over the fretboard and so on during the 20th century. This piece showcases the tip of the iceberg of the instrument's sonic possibilities that various composers can see throughout the 20th century and could be seen as an introduction to the possibilities to experiment and explore by the composer. We can also see that the particular treatment of dynamics unseen for the instrument before the 20th-century approach characterizes that. Falla had a specific vision, and the fact that it is executable for the guitar showcases his innovative musical and instrument qualities. The collaboration of guitarist and composer allow the possibilities of experimenting and assuring the executability of the composer’s vision.

Figure 3 First page of Homenaje

Figure 4 Indication at the bottom of the page of Homenaje

Harmonic language

We can see a different approach compared to traditional guitar composition. The guitar had been depleted in the repertoire, and to remedy this, guitarists such as Tarrega and Segovia contributed to a variety of transcription for the instrument. On the other hand, Homenaje brought into the classical guitar repertoire a new language that guitarists had not explored yet, which helped reconnect the classical guitar to the current movement of classical music. The piece, as noted by Bogdanovic's analysis, is mode-based. However, according to his studies, they were no consensus on which mode to employ; Bogdanovic used the North Indian Thāta classification developed by N.A Jairazbhoy.[10] This multicultural approach, which is part of the aesthetic of the 20th century, was introduced by this piece for the guitar repertoire. The use of quartal harmonies and quintals that are easily executable of the guitar showcases the impressionistic approach employed by Debussy and Falla, Falla's which wasn't employed previously for the guitar. The piece was constructed for the guitar's unique characteristics, such as colour, articulation, and acoustic properties, that other instruments cannot necessarily achieve.

Conclusion

The evolution seen in the 20th century, coming from the 19th century, impacted how we see and use the guitar to this day. A critical aspect of this evolution is the collaboration of the classical guitarist and composer. One aspect that helped the guitar’s integration into classical music at the time was the work of Homenaje by Manuel De Falla. It is not the only circumstances that helped the classical guitar, but one crucial aspect that deserved to be acknowledge more for the sake of the understanding of its history. Since that piece, we have seen other non-guitarist composers throughout the 20th century experiment with the possibility of the guitar. Through my research, we can see this piece reflects the aesthetic of the 20th century that had not been done for the instrument compared to other form of musical expression. However, it is essential to consider other factors, such as the development of the instrument, the creation of amplification, and the output of Andres Segovia in the development of the classical guitar in the 20th century. However, Homenaje gave a preview of what the classical guitar was going to go through in the 20th century; exploration of color, timbres, effects, articulation, and a harmonic language similar to what the world of western music was going through.

Bibliography

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Turnbull, Harvey. The Guitar from the Renaissance to the Present Day. London: Batsford, 1974.

Ugrich, Michael. "A Study of the Triumphs of Andrés Segovia Made Possible Through the Evolution of the Guitar." ProQuest Dissertations Publishing, 2018.

Heck, Thomas F. Mauro Giuliani : Virtuoso Guitarist and Composer. Columbus: Editions Orphée, 1995.

Stenstadvold, Erik. "‘We Hate the Guitar’: Prejudice and Polemic in the Music Press in Early 19th-Century Europe." Early Music 41, no. 4 (2013): 595–604. https://doi.org/10.1093/em/cat103.

Trend, John Brande. Manuel de Falla and Spanish Music. New York: Knopf, 1929

Segovia, Andrés, and Christopher Nupen. Segovia at Los Olivos. Guildford, England: Allegro Films, 1994.

Bogdanovic, Dusan. "Homenaje": An Analysis of Manuel de Falla’s "Le Tombeau de Claude Debussy." Classical Guitar 29. Richmond: String Letter Publishing, 2011.

Castelnuovo-Tedesco, Mario. "Sonatina, Op. 205." IMSLP, https://imslp.org/wiki/Sonatina,_Op.205_(Castelnuovo-Tedesco,_Mario) (accessed March 24, 2024).

Manuel de Falla. "Homenaje, pour le tombeau de Claude Debussy." In IMSLP, accessed March 24, 2024. https://s9.imslp.org/files/imglnks/usimg/8/84/IMSLP229164-PMLP04187-Falla_-_Homenaja_gtr_Sibley.1802.21420.pdf

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[1]

Revue musicale, vi/3 (1832), p.22. Quoted after B. Jeffery, Fernando Sor, composer and guitarist (London, 2/1994), p.103.

[2] AMZ, x/34 (1808), cols.538–9; quoted after Heck, Mauro Giuliani, p.40.

[3] AMZ, viii/23 (1806), cols.362–6. From Stenstadvold, Erik. "‘We Hate the Guitar’: Prejudice and Polemic in the Music Press in Early 19th-Century Europe." Early Music 41, no. 4 (2013): 595–604. https://doi.org/10.1093/em/cat103.

4 Berlioz, Hector : A Treatise on Modern instrumentation and orchestration ,tr. Mary. Cowden Calrke, London, nd. From Turnbull, Harvey. The Guitar, from the Renaissance to the Present Day. New York: C. Scribner’s Sons, 1974, page 87.

[5] Turnbull, Harvey. The Guitar, from the Renaissance to the Present Day. New York: C. Scribner’s Sons, 1974.

[6] Berlioz, Hector : A Treatise on Modern instrumentation and orchestration ,tr. Mary. Cowden Calrke, London, nd. From Turnbull, Harvey. The Guitar, from the Renaissance to the Present Day. New York: C. Scribner’s Sons, 1974, page 87.

[7] Trend, John Brande. Manuel de Falla and Spanish Music. New York: Knopf, 1929, p.39

[8] Segovia, Andrés, and Christopher Nupen. Segovia at Los Olivos. Guildford, England: Allegro Films, 1994.

[9] Bogdanovic, Dusan. “Homenaje”: An Analysis of Manuel de Falla’s “Le Tombeau de Claude Debussy.” Classical Guitar. Vol. 29. Richmond: String Letter Publishing, 2011, p.3

[10] Jairazbhoy N. A. The Rāgs of North Indian Music, 1971, Faber & Faber, London from Bogdanovic, Dusan. “Homenaje”: An Analysis of Manuel de Falla’s “Le Tombeau de Claude Debussy.” Classical Guitar. Vol. 29. Richmond: String Letter Publishing, 2011, p.14